Smokey wrote:Bell 412's in Cyprus. Contractor owned. RAF pays for the flight hours and then bills the M.O.D.
Might be the contrary as they are supplied under COMAR (is that a serviced lease?) by FB HeliservicesDahedd wrote: seems a tad wasteful.
"in January 2003, No 84 finally ended Wessex operations with the retirement of the last four of the type in RAF service. They have been replaced by Search and Rescue-equipped Griffin HAR2s.
-They have a variable speed winch and an additional array of radios for maritime uses, together with mods for overwater operations
84 Sqn's role in Cyprus is primarily to provide Search and Rescue cover for visiting fast jet Squadrons, though similar cover is also provided for civilian incidents within the Cyprus area of responsibility, involving shipping or land incidents. This is a very large area, extending half way to Crete, Turkey, Egypt and the Lebanon. As a secondary role, 84 Squadron carry out Support Helicopter tasking for both resident and visiting British Forces."
My first thought was the commonality with the UN UNICYP support flight, but they actually operate Bell 212s
- it is an Argentine Flight, btw
- no, not within our "wire" as things used to be when the support was by Brit Sioux and Whirlwind whirlie birds